An Awkward Education
by ComebackMightBeOn
Summary: Chantelle and Alfie always seemed to have a spark yet they never dared to light it up. Eventual Alfie/Chantelle
1. Alfie Wickers

_Alfie Wickers believed that success in education did not come from a textbook but instead he thought that the right teacher could connect with a class in a way that nothing else could. This meant that he tried to be not only a teacher to the students but also a friend to them._

 _The students did appreciate him but they also saw his lax attitude and took advantage, the class seemed to did nothing but mock him and slack off and Chantelle took every opportunity to flirt with him. This was the average day of form K at Abbey Grove,_

 _This led to some unfortunate circumstances._

For many people Monday was the worst days of the week but this did not apply to Alfie Wickers. Every Monday Alfie woke up with a smile on his face thinking about the brilliant week in front of him. He was the teacher of form K. They were not just his students but also his friends, seemingly his only friends due to his social awkwardness around other people his own age. He rose from his bed, prepared himself for the day, asked his dad for a lift and arrived at the school ready to teach with fun.

He walked into the classroom and banged his lower regions right into the corner of his desk. "Not the best start to the day" he thought to himself while Mitchell shouted " Sir isn't it already inside you ?" while Chantelle crouched at his side, " Sir I can do mouth to head resuscitation". " That won't be necessary" Alfie replied trying to mask the pain so as not to lose his job because Chantelle couldn't get enough of him.

He sat at his desk and spent a couple of minutes trying to regain his composure and lessen to pain to his testes and did the one thing he knew would distract the class, " Alright everyone time for some class wars" he shouted as the students rushed to separate their desks and create a clear space for the battle field. "Okay, it is the year 480 BC and the brave Spartan soldiers have created a blockade of 300 to fight the mighty Persian empire." " Obviously I will have to be Leonidas and you will all be the Persian bastards trying to claim Greece". The class fell into silence as while Mr. Wickers was known to swear every now and again it is always a shock to hear a teacher swear. " Ha, sir swore, what a knob" Mitchell shouted, breaking the silence, "Well at least I know who both my parents actually are and that I am not a bastard, unlike a certain someone" Alfie responded while looking straight at Mitchell who just leaned back in disbelief.

The class reenacted the battle in strange fashion as all the class just jumped on top of Alfie (except Rem Dogg for obvious reasons) because despite how history may have occurred in real life, form K either didn't know or didn't care because winning class wars was the most important thing to do. They stayed on top of him for a considerable amount of time and just as the class were starting to get off of him, the headmaster Mr. Fraser walked in. "And this is our esteemed history teacher Mr. Wickers" he said to a group of parents whose mouths were wide open at the sight of students getting off Mr. Wickers and the image of Chantelle refusing to dismount him " Who needs horse-riding when I can just ride you" she said, while jumping up and down on his stomach, not noticing the group of parents who had gathered around the door who gasped in both shock and terror while Fraser just kept his head in his hands trying to think of ways that he could get Alfie out of this mess.


	2. Chantelle Parsons

_Chantelle Parsons was a girl that wasn't raised under average circumstances. With an absent mother and a constant rotation of father figures it is impossible for most children to grow up and be stable in the future. Her childhood led to her mixing with people she didn't really want to and being put into situations she couldn't really handle. Then along came Mr. Wickers._

 _Mr Wickers was the teacher that she not only admired but also, in her own strange way, desired. He was the first man in her life that could show stability and the first person who treated her like she belonged and truly made her feel special. He made her feel appreciated._

 _These feelings could cause some uncomfortable circumstances._

Mondays were not the easiest days for Chantelle. She would usually have spent the weekend partying and this led to constant hangovers and morning scares. However this week would be different. Mr Wickers had spoken to her on Friday about her falling grades and for the first time in her life Chantelle felt compelled to actually do something not just for herself but to make someone else proud, "Sir" she whispered aloud not wanting to be caught by her mother dreaming about someone that her mother found repulsive, " He is a disgusting rat and if you honestly think that he is the best man out there then I truly have failed as a mother" she told Chantelle just after their first parent's evening. She was determined to show her mother that Alfie

Wickers was the man for her and she wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of that.

She walked into the classroom and took up her usual seat next to Stephen at the front of the class so she could get the best view of Sir. "Babes you look fantastic" Stephen told her as she walked in " You don't even look drunk, what is your secret ?". "Didn't drink, that's my secret" she told him flatly just trying to concentrate on trying to impress Mr Wickers and show him just how much she wanted him to be proud of her.

Then he walked in and instantly banged his crotch right into the corner of his table. From behind her she could hear Mitchell shout " Hey sir, isn't it already inside you ?". " What a dick" she thought while she ran to his side. She couldn't think of anything comforting to say so she just took her normal approach. " Sir I can do mouth to head resuscitation" she told him while chastising herself for not being able to comfort him but she did receive a spark of delight from how flustered her comment had made him, " That won't be necessary" he said while a pang of disappointment flew through her at his denial.

She returned to her desk while he went to his and she spent the next couple of minutes wondering the same thing she thought every morning. " What is it about him that makes me want him to be proud", the same momentary thought of "Love" flew through her head but she knew deep down that she didn't deserve him. She was the local slut who didn't deserve a man who respected her but instead only the low lifes of society where the people she went for because she felt that that was all she would ever really be good for. " Alright everyone time for some class wars" he shouted as the students around her rushed to separate their desks and create a clear space for the battle field, she closely followed not wanting to be left awkwardly in the middle. "Okay, it is the year 480 BC and the brave Spartan soldiers have created a blockade of 300 to fight the mighty Persian empire." " Obviously I will have to be Leonidas and you will all be the Persian bastards trying to claim Greece". He told the class and she weirdly admired him for swearing but she, along with everyone else in the class fell into complete silence until Mitchell shouted " Ha, sir swore, what a knob", "Well at least I know who both my parents actually are and that I am not a bastard unlike a certain someone" Alfie responded while looking straight at Mitchell who just leaned back in disbelief. " How clever" Chantelle thought to herself as she laughed along with the rest of the group at the back and forth between Mr Wickers and Mitchell.

Instead of following historical accuracy Chantelle led the class towards Mr Wickers as they all sprinted towards him and knocked him over in their attempt to be victorious at the best school activity any of them had actually taken part in. After a few seconds of pinning down Mr Wickers the rest of the class started to get off him but Chantelle saw this as her opportunity to show Mr Wickers how much she cared for him " NOT LOVE" she told herself while bouncing up and down on his stomach. She didn't even notice when Mr Fraser walked in with a group of parents and instead said " Who needs horse riding when I can just ride you" which caused Alfie, " No he is Mr Wickers you do not deserve to call him by that name" she reminded herself, which caused Mr WIckers to turn beet red at not only Chantelle's words and actions but also at the shocked faces at the door and around the classroom.


	3. Consequences

**A/N: Italicized names mean that we are going to that person's point of view but it will still be in third-person mostly so it will be me describing how the characters would perceive situations and react to them.**

 _Trouble was a problem that follows everyone and inevitably catches up with even the best of people. Sometimes people caused the trouble, sometimes trouble just stumbled across them. And sometimes, trouble just held itself inside a small office in a small school near Watford._

"Now there are a few issues that I, Ed Millibant, need to sort out with you two", the headmaster, Mr Fraser, said. Fraser seemed obsessed with trying to work the word 'banter' into every sentence he said which made it very hard for him to actually have a serious conversation but the look on his face suggested that this would be a one time exception. " While I understand that sometimes student-teacher relations can be very tempting I am going to need you to calm down on the flirting and bumping" he said while staring directly at Chantelle.

 _Chantelle._

"Why does he have to say it like that, it's not like I'm actually having sex with him it's just a little flirting." "He wouldn't even want to be with me anyway" Chantelle told herself while trying to look away from Fraser and Mr Wickers so that she could avoid any unnecessary eye contact in order to make this scene a little less awkward. It wasn't that she didn't like Mr Wickers, she certainly had some feelings for him, but it was that she had spent so long only being able to connect with people physically that she found it hard to form an emotional relationship with a man that she could imagine spending her life with. But to her it could only be imagined, she thought she didn't deserve it, she didn't deserve to be with someone who could respect her. So she tried to turn Mr Wickers into the man that she thought she deserved. She believed that if she could make Mr Wickers an arse like the rest of the men that she dated then she could finally be happy. So she tried. And failed. "But sir why is he in trouble when it was almost completely my fault" she said with a pleading look towards Fraser, "It should only be me that has to take the fall for my actions". While she was willing to take the punishment she didn't want to bring Alf ... Mr Wickers down with her.

 _General._

"While I can respect that Mr Wickers here is not completely at fault for this incident and that I agree that the bulk of the punishment should be placed on you Chantelle" Fraser said with the plainest face she had ever seen. Fraser turned to Mr Wickers and said " The parents are now demanding that I sack you because while some of your behaviour has been ridiculous,there has always been some sort of academic reason behind it, this time the parents just believe that you are a paedophile and unless I find a way to get you out of their eyesight very quickly there is no way that I will be able to save you from the inevitable mob.". Fraser said this to Alfie with tears welling in his eyes because as much as Alfie probably deserved to be fired, Alfie was Fraser's best friend and this was becoming even harder for Fraser to do as time went on but in true Fraser fashion, he had a plan. "I'm going to have to send you away for a month, I'll bring in a supply to hold the position but if you can disappear to Cornwall for a month or possibly a bit longer I can focus on calming the parents and directing their hatred somewhere else, luckily for you, since she made a move on you and you didn't respond you cannot be tried for the incident but Chantelle", Fraser said turning his head towards her " I am going to have to suspend you for a month and, by school policy, if this happens again it will result in permanent exclusion for the both of you. I assume that we all understand and we can leave it at that, you must both return to class and collect your things then I will escort you off the site and there must be no contact between the two of you in the suspension period" Fraser silently whispered as he struggled to not get choked up at his best friend leaving. They all nodded to each other to convey understanding and started the long walk back to class.

 _Alfie._

While they were walking thoughts were racing through Alfie's head, "Why does this always happen to me ?", " Why can't I stop this ?", " Do I like the attention ?", " How is this going to affect me and Rosie". Despite the fact that Alfie and Rosie had not actually got together yet Alfie was still adamant that they were perfect for each other and he was always desperate to prove that fact but this incident could set him back months after all the work he had put in gaining good will with her, he secretly knew that they had no real chance but he was sure that it could happen because hard work was surely the key to success on any front. Then there was Chantelle. Chantelle was a girl that Alfie got on well with,a rare thing to say, but lately she seemed to be getting more aggressive with her flirting and this incident came very close to going beyond that boundary but for whatever reason Alfie did not want to stop being friends with Chantelle. Maybe it was his desire to be friends with his whole class that led this desire but it seemed to be different with Chantelle, as if she was special in the group.

 _General._

Both of them walked back to class keeping their heads down to not only avoid conversation but also to try and get the other out of their mind, 'out of sight out of mind', but they still had the incident riding over them. The door opened. they walked in and, for possibly the first time ever, Form K stopped talking and instead simply stared at the pair of them. Even Mitchell, who usually had a wisecrack for every situation, stayed silent because of the sudden switch of atmosphere. Everyone could see that they had changed from their usual happy selves to shells who had clearly received devastating news. Mr Wickers cleared his throat and uttered quietly " Me and Chantelle will both be disappearing for a while, not like that Mitchell". At the last sentence most of the class had smirked but Mitchell had smirked first so he took the small amount of flack that Mr Wickers could give. " In a month we will be returning and until then you will have a supply, please work hard for yourselves and make this your best month yet". The statement barely came as a whisper and each row in the class had to tell the others behind them what he had said. Clearly this was greatly affecting Mr Wickers who truly did love his class. Chantelle walked over to Stephen and gave him a quick hug, he was her best friend after all, and walked out with Mr Wickers close behind. Fraser led them to the gate and let them go. They both shared a momentary glance at each other before leaving in separate directions knowing they had both royally screwed up.


	4. So close, yet so far

_Sometimes, people are not lonely because they enjoy solitude and hate people. It is simply because they have tried to fit into society before and been kicked out . At some point loneliness affects everyone, sometimes loneliness affects those we least expect. Sometimes loneliness can be solved with understanding. Unfortunately understanding is not available when there aren't any people._

Alfie and Chantelle both had to leave the other. Alfie was heartbroken because this could destroy his relationship with Rosie while Chantelle was barely holding on because of the pain of letting go of the one man she felt truly understood her. They both headed to their respective homes and just sat on the first thing they could find. The floor. Tears were shed but not because of what they had lost but instead because of what could be gained. Chantelle was not only going to get an absolute bollocking from her mother and whoever her new father was but she could also be put on educational blacklists across the country. Alfie was going to gain a reputation that could put him out of teaching and destroy his chances with Rosie. Neither of them felt like just sitting down and taking the punishment that their cruel lives had inflicted on them. They felt like taking their break from normality to experience something unique, something special, something to take their mind off of what they had lost and the future that lay ahead. They wanted to forget.

 _Alfie._

Alfie was completely torn up by his suspension. It didn't just affect his relationship with Rosie but it could also lead to him losing his only source of income and put him out of the teaching industry forever. Being a teacher was the only thing that Alfie could do, the only thing he had trained for, the only thing he was mentally and physically prepared for. Sure working at B&Q was fun as a part time job but it couldn't lead to a sustainable future for him and his future family. So to help himself forget about his exceptionally dire situation Alfie decided to do something he very rarely did. Alfie decided to go out. Not to a bar or sport club like most adults would in this situation. Alfie wanted to, for one night only, absolutely destroy his body so he thought that the best and easiest way to do that would be to go clubbing. Alfie got into his tightest clothes, because you never know if this will be your night to get lucky, laced up his nicest trainers, whipped on the only hoodie he could find in the pile in the corner of the flat he shared with his dad and headed out towards the Oceana, the best local bar, for the night. He left a note on his pillow though just to tell his dad what was happening because despite all the issues that they had between them Alfie couldn't bare the thought of his dad worrying. After all, Alfie was still a little kid at heart.

 _Chantelle._

When Chantelle entered her home and slammed the door in frustration, she just fell to the floor and started to weep uncontrollably. There was no anger and no joy left in her body. She had spent the first half of her long walk home feeling anger that she had been suspended since students were always being encouraged to be themselves and not be afraid of society's boundaries yet she was being judged and punished for trying to express her feelings and emotions which resulted in her destroying as many flowers as possible on the way. Then she realised that she no longer had to go to school for the short term future and this filled her with ideas of how to waste away the days and how many men she was going to hook up with. She was even making a mental short-list of potential candidates.

Then she arrived home and realised the one thing she had kept buried the whole time. She was going to be lonely for the entire duration of the month. She realised that her short-list of men wouldn't even last her a week and that the rest of the suspension would just be her sitting at home wishing she was at school just to get some human comfort because she knew that was one of the many things her immediate family couldn't do for her. She realised that the suspension would lead to her losing the only understanding man in her life, besides Stephen, and it finally hit her that she had gone too far. This caused the waves of guilt to fly over her and this only made her cry harder. She did get some respite though from her mother not being home though as she knew that this type of emotional show would cause her mother to turn 100 shades of angry and that wasn't something she felt she could really deal with and she didn't want to have to deal with the problems of her suspension with her mother today either so she did the one thing she really knew how to do. She decided to go strapped on a small shirt that showed off her midriff and trousers that stuck to her like glue, grabbed her fake I.D that was practically worn out from the immense amount of use it had gone through, put on so much make-up that she was barely recognisable and headed towards the Oceana, knowing she would probably be back before her mum anyway.

 _At school._

Despite the immense amount of action that had occurred that day, it was still an early school day so Fraser decided to temporarily take over Form K and try to explain the situation so that the students would actually understand the delicacy of the situation. He also had to try and explain that there could be no contact from them towards Alfie and Chantelle which would be hard due to their close relationships with Joe and Stephen respectively. Naturally Mitchell was the first to comment " So what if they're going at each other like a couple of wild rabbits, Dickers ( Mitchell's charming nickname for Mr WIckers ) only has to learn that he is bound to get a virus and how he is going to sort that out, apart from that who really cares". This led to Stephen trying to send an insult back by saying " Well at least they're not going to be spending their time stuffed into a caravan 'cause their parents can't afford anything better". " Guys lets just leave the situation for now since bickering is not going to actually get us anywhere, anyway I'll just call up Alfie later and I bet that there is nothing happening between them and this is all just a big understanding" Joe said, just loud enough for the class to hear since he seemed to share Mr Wickers' social fear, as he tried to calm the situation. " Actually any communication between you and the suspended parties will result in an immediate suspension for you as well so I would not recommend that" Fraser said very quickly trying to get the issue out of the way but the statement only caused the rest of the class to explode into arguments about who was in the wrong as it was clear that the two people in question would not be providing answers any time soon.

 _Inside the Oceana._

As soon as Alfie arrived at the Oceana he knew that he hated it. He hated the music, he hated the pungent smell, he hated the people and most of all he hated the prices. However Alfie came to drink and he was going to do that one way or another. So he bought a beer and seated himself on a stall near the bar hoping to find a lady that was sober enough to have an actual conversation but the rotten smell of vomit suggested that that wouldn't be happening tonight or indeed any night.

Chantelle had also just arrived at a club which, coincidentally, was also where Mr Wickers was trying to drink away his misery. She walked up to the bar and ordered the first of ,what was probably, many shots for the night not paying any real attention to the strange bearded gentleman she saw staring at her from across the bar as that was not an unusual look around her. After all she was a very attractive women and she certainly knew how to show off and her tight shirt and jeans wasn't hiding anything so she just embraced the small bit of attention she was receiving while getting a strong feeling of recognition about the man but she was already being grouped around by multiple strangers so she quickly pushed him out of her mind.

Alfie Wickers was completely stunned into silence when he saw the strange woman enter the club. He felt that he knew her but she was clearly too attractive for him as within a few moments of her arrival she was already being bombarded with people more desperate than him. He was sat there in a hawaiian shirt, tight vest and casual jeans. He certainly wasn't dressed for the occasion but he didn't really care as he was there to get drunk and forget about the cruel mistress that was his life.

Two hours later Alfie had only just finished his drink since he had spent the entire time thinking about the strange woman that he felt so closely connected to. On the other hand Chantelle had barely thought about the strange man from earlier in the evening and had instead focused on drinking everyone around her under the table. Alfie headed out in order to get a cab home as he was bored of thinking about others and he was also a little disappointed that his plan to get drunk had failed but he was glad because, in hindsight, it was an awful plan. Chantelle also decided to head home and they both hailed a cab at the same time. Like the gentleman he was Alfie decided to let the clearly very drunk woman he had spent the night thinking about get the first cab. After taking more than a fleeting glance at her though his feeling of recognition returned but he wasn't popular anyway so he probably just recognised someone he had seen the previous day on the street. Chantelle entered the cab that the strange man had let her take and as soon as she got in and looked back she immediately knew who it was. She let out a quiet "Alfie" before passing out on the back-seat.


	5. Home

_No matter who you are or where you are, instinct tells you to go home. Home is a place of safety, for some a place of learning, for others a place of madness. But regardless of what home is, it is still home._

A month had passed since the incident and, thankfully for everyone, the angry mother mob had finally calmed down from their murderous fury. A talk had been called for the parents and teachers and they saw that the incident was not completely Mr Wickers' fault so this meant that he had the permission of the school and of the parents to return but with a small strike on the record because ,despite his lack of fault, the incident had still occurred so it did need to be jotted down. Chantelle was also spoken about and it was agreed that she stay in Form K as long as she could restrain herself for the future. While this could prove a bit of a challenge considering her naturally flirtatious and physical nature this went beyond the good of a person to being for the good of the class as it is especially important in exam year to have consistency as rotating teachers can destroy some students so the school board were willing to try everything to make sure that Mr Wickers stayed as the teacher of Form K regardless of his inability to teach.

 _Alfie._

Alfie woke up at 2 o'clock that day. He may have had 5 hours left until he actually needed to get up but excitement had overwhelmed him. He was finally going to be able to see his class again. After he went clubbing on the first day, and hated it, he decided to spend most of his new free time planning lessons and activities for the class. He was determined to get his life back on track and to also actually help his class instead of only trying to be their closest friend. He was still going to try and be their friend as Alfie didn't know how to let go of their relationships but he knew that his priority as a teacher was to get the best grades possible so he had to set an example. He also had to find a way to return to normal with Chantelle so his immediate thoughts were to just ignore her but then he realised that could cause more tension between them and would probably arouse suspicion of their activities around the class as awkward silences between people automatically means something has happened between them from the eyes of most average teenagers. This led to him deciding that he was going to keep engaging Chantelle in conversation but that could be interpreted as him sending signals that he didn't want to so that plan was thrown out of the window. Then he compromised, his final genius plan was to simply engage her in a few class discussions and have his usual one line responses to her advances, it was basically flawless.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle was not hungover that morning. That was an achievement for her. Without Mr Wickers there to help her deal with her problems it was usually inevitable that she would drink herself into oblivion but instead of that she just sat at home revising. She wanted to go back to school and make everyone, especially Mr Wickers, proud of her. After that night in the club where she could have sworn she had seen him, she had had this desire to change. Just the thought of him made her realise that constant drinking and partying was not going to help her succeed in life, so she decided that she wanted more. She wanted to be able to show that she was more than the local slut but that she was also an intelligent girl who was in complete control of her life. She wanted everyone to see what Mr Wickers seemed to see in her. She wanted to be accepted by everyone for who she was not what her reputation made her. She wanted to be the Chantelle that Mr Wickers believed in, not the Chantelle that everyone tried to get in.

 _First day back - General._

Alfie and Chantelle both arrived at Abbey Groove at 8:25, just 5 minutes before the start of school. This was important because they both had to not only go face to face with each other but also speak to their classmates for the first time. It was going to be a hard day. It was going to be an awkward day.

 _Chantelle._

When Chantelle first arrived at school and spotted Mr Wickers just in front of her her first thought was a simple " Shit". She was not prepared to go face to face with him just yet so she walked quietly and closed herself up in the hope that he wouldn't notice her since she knew that he was too nice to ignore her if she was on his own.

 _Alfie._

Alfie arrived at school fresh and ready to teach, he had an entire lesson drafted up, for the first time in his teaching history, and he was teaching them about the Romans, probably the most interesting topic in the syllabus that he could use to keep his class interested and try to avoid any awkward conversations. He saw Chantelle out of the corner of his eye and he could see that she was uncomfortable so he let her be but he knew that they would have to speak once school started.

Alfie walked into the classroom to a deafening cheer. When he was gone Form K had been a very upset class because no one could quite capture their interest in the same way that Mr Wickers could. He sat down and saw the smiling faces around and felt joy for the first time in a month. Then he felt the awkward mist descend upon the class as he noticed each of their smiles turn to strange expressions as soon as…

 _Chantelle._

She had noticed Mr Wickers walk in and heard the roar from down the hallway, " The entire county could probably hear that" she thought to herself, smirking at the situation. She then walked into the room and she could almost feel them turning to look away from her. She could feel the switch of atmosphere. Only Stephen and Mr Wickers dared to look at her and even they could only muster a small smile. Then Mitchell spoke " So you two got up to some real learning th.." he started before a death stare from most of the class cut him off. She could only bare to keep her head down until she heard Mr Wickers.

General.

" Alright everyone, I'm back and it's time for some learning and today we will be doing" he paused to bang on the table like he always did before introducing a new topic " the Romans" he finished before hearing the class-wide groan. The Romans were a stereotypically boring subject but the class quickly settled upon remembering how Mr Wickers always seemed to be able to make anything fun.

After 20 minutes of learning about the gods and general Roman society they then came onto entertainment. Mr Wickers had Mitchell and Stephen re-enact a gladiator fight and had Rem Dogg and Joe demonstrate how a chariot race worked. Rem Dogg was obviously the chariot. This was the type of lesson that Mr Wickers was known for, he was known for putting on interactive lessons that students could have as distinct memories rather than teaching them from a book and having it disguise itself amongst the rest of their textbook learning.

 _Chantelle._

After the demonstrations of some forms of entertainment everyone returned to their seats. Chantelle had returned to her normal self due to the comforting environment of the classroom and when Mr Wickers mentioned how Romans celebrated business deals she didn't even hesitate to say " So Romans went to brothels to celebrate did they , well I'm up for some role-play if you are Sir". She immediately regretted the statement " Old habits" she thought to herself while realising that this meant that she and the class were returning to normal which could only be a good sign.

 _Alfie._

When Chantelle said that he was initially annoyed at her for causing the situation but he quickly came to the conclusion that she was only trying to normalise the situation so he mentally praised her for that and continued with the lesson, overwhelmed with joy that the incident was being pushed to the back of everyone's minds.

 _General._

At the end of the day Alfie kept Chantelle behind so that they could discuss things. " So,um, Chantelle I noticed that you seemed to already know a lot of the material I taught today, is there a secret genius that you've kept in hiding all this time." " No sir" she responded trying to maintain eye contact without breaking down, " I just spent most of our down time revising". " Well I'm proud then" He said quietly as they both felt that awkward atmosphere descend onto both of them. They still maintained eye contact and it seemed as if Alfie was going to say something but then Chantelle whispered " Can I go now Sir". Alfie quietly nodded, trying to clear his mind of what he was thinking while Chantelle walked out trying to do the same.

They both shared a solitary thought " If things were different."


	6. Happiness

_Some people class true happiness as feeling good about yourself without the approval of others. That is usually an impossible task._

In the following days after both Chantelle and Alfie had returned to school, their lives had returned to normal, the incident was never mentioned again, Alfie was still being regularly bullied by the class and hopelessly chasing Rosie and Chantelle had gone back to using her flirtatious one-liners. It was good for all of them that the problems had been laid to rest because today was special for two reasons. Not only was it the last Friday until their Christmas break but it also marked the date of their end of term Christmas party. This was an event where all of the year 11 students would be invited to a prom-like event full of music and non-alcoholic beverages. It was basically the pinnacle of a school party.

Form K were all sitting with their heads on their desks sleeping because Alfie had decided that, since there was no point in them learning anything else, he would just let them have a lazy day. The door burst open as the human bubble of excitement, Fraser, strutted into the room. " Alright, guys sorry to burst the banter-bubble but since DJ Bantz is going to be hosting the party tonight I just wanted to ask if there were any requests". When he originally came into the room everyone had kept their heads down just trying to ignore him but the moment he asked for requests everyone's hand went up in the hopes to get him to skip the party and let one of them DJ. " Apart from the usual ones" Fraser said already being used to being asked not to DJ after being headmaster and head DJ for multiple years. Only Chantelle's hand was kept raised and when selected by Fraser she said " I just want to know if sir can legally go to prom with me", at this question Alfie started to cough violently in shock while Fraser could only stumble out a "No". " Well I guess it will be a crime of passion then" Chantelle stated nonchalantly while still smiling widely at Mr Wickers. Fraser left the room awkwardly not wanting to experience a repeat of the incident that occurred a month ago while Alfie just tried his best to settle the class down who were all holding in laughter waiting for Fraser to leave so that they could let it out.

 _Alfie._

When Chantelle started to ask that question Alfie had tried his best to cover it up by coughing but it was to no avail as everyone could already see where it was going anyway. He tried to keep his head down both in shock and to also try and avoid sending any signals that could result in a repeat of the incident. He heard the rest of the exchange and stayed down not wanting to get involved so that Fraser could leave as quickly as moment he looked up he could see his entire classes' faces turning red as they held in laughter so he tried his best to defuse the situation but ,unfortunately, it was already too late. The moment Fraser was out the pupils all exploded into laughter at the absurdity of the situation while Alfie could only offer a small smile to the still beaming Chantelle.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle had only asked that question because she wanted to see Mr Wickers squirm a little. It had been a while since she had come up with any good flirting material so she took the opportunity when it presented itself to her. She just wanted to return everything to normal. There was also a part of her that actually meant the question as well. If Mr Wickers was to take her to the party she could almost definitely confirm that it would have been one of the happiest moments of her life, instead of the usual rough group of people that she socialised with, she could have been with someone who cared. But secretly she knew that it wasn't going to happen so she just went with it as if it was a joke along with everyone else.

 _General - the party._

The party was about as good as you can expect a school run part to be. There were balloons, a few streamers, music that had come form the latest NOW music album and a few tables set up with drinks and a bit of food. It was a serviceable party but nothing really special. Alfie was wearing a suit, as was required for all male staff, and with his beard shaved a bit just to tidy himself up since tonight was the night that he planned on making his final move on Rosie, for him tonight was make or break. Chantelle had come in a few hours early wearing her longest and least flattering dress, after all she was trying to shed her slutty image, but even them the dress was till quite revealing so she was going to try and just act normal as a counter balance. The rest of the attendees were the same types of clothing for their gender: suit for men, dress for women, because it was still a school event and school parties are not known for being the best place to pull but at the end of the day life is unpredictable and anything could happen.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle had gone home form school that day ready to shed the image she had created for herself, she wanted to be the real her. So she dressed appropriately and didn't cover herself in makeup because she didn't plan on going to the party and coming back with someone, well maybe there was someone but that wasn't going to happen, so she was only in the house for about half an hour until she left for school to help prepare the party as the first step in her road to creating a new her.

 _Alfie._

Alfie stayed behind after school that day to help prepare the party. He didn't want to but Fraser scared him into doing it by threatening to give him a 200 page report that needed to be completed. Alfie knew which one he would rather do. He didn't even have to leave to get changed because he always kept a suit in his locker for occasions like these.. He was also staying behind as a way to show Rosie how good of a guy he was and hopefully put his master plan into action tonight, he had even tidied up his beard as a way to show Rosie just how mature he was since that seemed to be the main barrier between them. He just hoped that the incident would not repeat itself so that his plan could sail smoothly.

The party was scheduled to last until midnight and the time was fast approaching eleven. Alfie knew that he didn't have that much time to activate his plan but there were still some things that he wanted to get into place first. He wanted to get Fraser to play the most romantic song he knew ( Save the last dance for me - Michael Buble ) that also fitted well into the party but naturally Fraser had decided to play that song last so Alfie started work on the other factors of his plan. He needed Stephen to start teaching him some basic dance moves and he was relying on Joe to come through with the preparation of a bouquet of flowers for Alfie to give to Rosie. This was all of vital importance because he needed to be able to dance to show Rosie that he was cultured and mature, he felt that the song just suited the party perfectly and the flowers were his grand romantic gesture for Rosie.

Alfie found Stephen who gave him a ten minute crash course for romantic dancing and luckily Joe did come through with the flowers which was good because the time was know 10 to 12 which meant the the party was coming to a close and that he needed to start his plan with Rosie now so he convinced Fraser to play the song and walked over to Rosie. He got down on one knee and presented the bouquet of flowers to her while asking if he could have the final dance.

 _Chantelle._

Seeing Alfie get on his knee with a big bouquet of flowers for Rosie was the final straw for Chantelle. She had been told halfway through by Stephen about Mr Wickers' grand plan and had barely been able to keep herself together as the thought of seeing Mr Wickers with someone else greatly depressed her. Then seeing the scene unfold in front of her just broke her and she quietly slipped out of the party hoping to catch a cab before anyone could find her, she would text Stephen and Mr Wickers, his number was on twitter, to let them know she was okay when she got home.

 _Alfie._

Alfie stayed on his knees for a full minute waiting for an answer but he could already see that this wasn't going to work. Rosie was trying her best to avoid eye contact and he had seen that enough times in his life to know what was going to happen next, so he avoided the heartbreak and slogged off preparing to cry in the bathroom. He didn't have time to be upset though because Stephen approached him and said, on the verge of tears, " Sir, Chantelle has just disappeared and no one knows where she's gone. We need to find her like now". Alfie let out a quiet "Shit" and told Stephen "try and find her here, I'm going to go look outside" before sprinting out of the door to the sight of emptiness. Alfie had done enough home visits to return certain clothing articles that Chantelle had left that he already knew where she lived and fortunately it was not that far away. He managed to catch sight of her just as she was about to unlock the door to her house, "She must have walked" he commented "Bit dangerous". " Chantelle " he shouted trying to get her attention.

 _Chantelle._

Just as Chantelle was about to unlock the door she heard someone shout " Chantelle" she turned around to see Mr Wickers jogging up to her door and dropped the key in disbelief. After seeing his gesture to Miss Gulliver she was sure that she had lost him forever so she left and cried for most of the way home. It was heartbreaking because she wanted him to be her first. Not her first in a sexual manner but she wanted him to be her first kiss. While she had let guys do everything else to her she had saved her first kiss for him. Now she saw him in front of her and all her emotions disappeared as she peered up into his eyes. " Chantelle, what the hell are you doing running of like that late at night, you could have been in real danger" He asked her in an annoyed voice since this was the first time he had exercised in quite a long time. " How did things go with Miss Gulliver Sir" she asked quietly just wanting to end her ordeal. He stiffened up and told her in a vulnerable voice " Not Well". Inside her emotions just flew all over and she lost control of herself and replied " Okay Sir" before leaping at him and planting a kiss on his lips before shuffling into her home in shame leaving him confused on her doorstep.


	7. Realisation

"Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real."

― **Iris Murdoch**

Christmas had passed. New Years had gone by. Joy was spread all around as people spent time with those that they cared about the most. Resolutions were made and immediately broken, yet for two people this was not a time of looking forward to the future but instead a time that had to be used to reflect on the past. Very specifically a cold Friday night on the doorstep of a cold house. They were not two people who regretted the past. They cherished it.

 _Chantelle._

After she had shared her first kiss with Mr Wickers it was almost magical. Heat spread through her body as disbelief flew to her brain when she finally realised that it was really happening. She was sharing something special with the man she cared so deeply for. Then the shame hit her when she realised that he was not returning her affection. She was ashamed at her actions, ashamed at how immature she seemed, ashamed at how this would affect Mr Wickers and Miss Gulliver, ashamed at how this could affect Mr Wickers and her. So she stopped, dropped her head and headed inside her house. She then just sat on the floor with her ear to the door hoping to hear Mr Wickers leave or come to her but she heard nothing. There was complete silence that threatened to break her. She couldn't bare to be alone in the dark again, especially not after the grand statement she had just made. But she still didn't try to get up. All she wanted was to stand up, open the door and relive the moment but that was clearly not going to happen again. So she waited. 5 minutes passed and nothing happened. Then 10 minutes had passed and finally the slow but clear footsteps could be heard descending down the stairwell that led to her home. So she waited some more. She opened the door and shouted "Sir" but no response came. The wind just blew gently passed her as the empty void of loneliness once again surrounded her.

 _Alfie._

During the kiss Alfie could barely move any of his body as he just stood there hoping that no one could see them. Then the feeling started to spread through him as just as he was about to return the love that was being so clearly shown to him Chantelle broke the spell that had cast them together and retreated inside her house. So Alfie just stayed still for a bit longer because he wanted to reflect on what had just occurred. He was simply stunned that all of Chantelle's flirting was not an act or a joke but instead apparently had real feelings behind it. This caused pride to brew inside Alfie and he started a movement to open the door but stopped when his professional side came through. This could not happen not only for him but for everyone around him. If he went through with this and word got out, which it inevitably would at Abbey Grove, it could mean the end of his career and the end of her education. He could not risk losing the only connection he had to real friendships. There was also Rosie that he had to think about. Despite her turning him down and the fact that he had pushed her to the back of his mind ever since then he still had feelings for her, " Right ?", he asked himself mentally not wanting to believe that he would really sacrifice everything he had worked so hard for just for a moment of passion but he so dearly wanted to. He stood there waiting for something to happen, he willed for his body to move one way or another and end the moment then but nothing was responding. So he stood, waited in anticipation only to realise that it was over. His body heavily sloped over as his feet slowly pushed him away from the door. It was surely over. Surely.

 _General - 3 weeks later._

Alfie and Chantelle both returned to school for the beginning of a new term with conflicting feelings. They both knew that their actions were wrong but they still desired each other. They wanted to know how the other felt. So they did what anyone who wants the answer to a question does, they just asked.

"So, um, Chantelle, yeah, how was your holiday ?" Alfie asked out of class just trying to ease Chantelle into a conversation to make the entire problem a bit easier to bring up casually. " Let's just cut to the chase Sir, I know.." Chantelle was cut up when they noticed Fraser come up to them dressed as a panda. "What is happening here ?" they asked in unison, both of them just plain confused. "Well I thought that after last year's Chinese New Year problems that I would fully embrace the culture this time" Fraser responded smiling as he truly believed that this made him the best headmaster ever. " You are aware that Chinese New Year is at the end of January right ?" Alfie asked while Chantelle still had a bewildered face due to the entire subject. "Chinese New Year isn't the same as every new year ?" Fraser slowly said realising the stupid mistake he had made. Alfie just shook his head as Chantelle started to let out a small laugh. "I even ordered in some Asian food for today" Fraser uttered walking away form the pair which caused Chantelle to whisper " Do you want me to dress up in a sushi platter for you Sir ?" which resulted in Alfie heavily blushing due to the thought of that scene but he knew that he couldn't let that show so he replied "NO" in the most authoritative voice he could which still ended up sounding quite pathetic since part of him didn't really mean it. Chantelle just leaned up and whispered into his ear " You know where I'll be if you want some fish" before walking away to her first lesson as the bell rang signalling the lesson change. Alfie just stood plain faced barely able to hide his smile as he watched her walk off.

 _Still General - near the end of/after school._

Alfie caught up with Chantelle and asked her to meet in his class after school. Chantelle thought that this was a sign that Mr Wickers had finally given in to her so she bunked all of her last period and spent the entirety of it in the girls bathroom just trying to make herself look as good as possible. Alfie on the other hand spent his whole last period just trying to think of what he was going to say and how to say it so as not to encourage any situations that they would both probably regret.

 _Alfie._

Alfie was still sitting at his desk 15 minutes after the bell waiting for Chantelle and watching the seconds tick by. He was really considering leaving but, much like that fateful night, he could not convince himself to leave yet.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle was in the hall and she was 15 minutes behind was meant to have met with Sir so she had asked Stephen to give her a quick pep talk to prepare her but for whatever reason he still hadn't shown. " Fuck it" she told herself, storming down the corridor towards the classroom, "I guess if you want something done, do it yourself". She charged into his room and…

 _Alfie._

Alfie's jaw nearly came off its hinges when he saw Chantelle walk into the room. Since she had clearly spent a long time working on herself she looked absolutely amazing but Alfie quickly steadied himself when he remembered what this meeting was for. " Requesting this meeting was a signal in itself" he thought to himself working out why she had dolled up so much.

 _Chantelle._

She noticed his dumbfounded look and quickly capitalized on it by asking " So we doing this then ?" in the most seductive voice she could do. She desperately wanted him to say yes because it was all she had been able to think about for the past hour but…

 _Alfie._

Alfie nearly squealed in fear when Chantelle asked him that but he readied himself yet again and said " Chantelle I didn't call you here for that" while doing some hand motions in her direction. " Instead I asked you to come here because I think that we need to have a serious discussion about some past events".

 _General._

Chantelle weakly replied in disappointment " Okay" while wiping her eyes in order to hide the tears that had formed due to her favourite teacher's denial of her. " Now Chantelle, I believe that you might be going after me because you look at me as some kind of father figure to you since I know how unstable your home life has been so it is understandable."

 _Chantelle._

That caused Chantelle to sigh in annoyance and a bit of anger, " How dare he think that I am that shallow" she thought to herself as she expressed herself to him " Sir I do not think of you as some sort of father replacement, but I think of you as the man that cares, the man that understands me, but clearly I was wrong" she could barely keep eye contact as tears were now welling up and her strength was slowly fading.

 _General._

"It's just that you are the only man in my life that has ever actually cared and not just wanted to get in my pants." "It is just a bit strange for me but I think I might love you Al.. Sorry, Mr Wickers." She still couldn't bare to say his first name. She still didn't believe that she deserved to despite everything that they had recently gone through. Her confession caused her to break down completely and she spent the next 5 minutes weeping uncontrollably as Mr Wickers tried his best to console her without getting too close knowing that if they were found like that, there could be unnecessary complications. When she stopped Alfie stared into her eyes and told her " Look Chantelle I understand what you are going through but surely you can see this is wrong". The close contact sparked something inside of her and she let everything go and kissed him for only the second time.

 _Alfie._

When Chantelle leaned in and connected her lips with his Alfie was, at first, very apprehensive but.

Eventually he let go.

He gave in.


	8. Decisions

Often romantic relationships fail because you are trying to get someone to fall in love with the YOU that you never discovered."

― **Shannon L. Alder**

Eventually they disconnected from each other and both could only muster a smile. Alfie just sat down dumbfounded at what had just occurred between him and one of his pupils but he didn't feel bad about it. He felt good. Chantelle was experiencing similar feelings as she moved away from him. She had felt him surrender to her and this made her happier than she had ever been but she didn't want to show her overwhelming joy out of fear that it would scare Mr Wickers. So she smiled and walked out of the classroom. Meanwhile Alfie had gone into a world of his own.

 _Alfie._

Alfie had been at an internal war with himself since the events of the previous night. Alfie had given in to Chantelle but their interactions went no further than that. He had spent the entire night tossing and turning about what he had to do but he had no answer. To be honest, he barely understood the situation himself so he couldn't comprehend the possible backlash that his actions could cause but no one saw them so as long as neither Chantelle or Alfie talked about it, they could stay in the clear.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle had no regrets about her actions. She had silenced any doubts she had about her own feelings towards Mr Wickers and it seemed like he was returning similar feelings towards her. But she did feel a bit of embarrassment that she had opened herself up so much, emotionally, to someone when her strategy had always been to keep emotions out of the situation to avoid undue pain and stress. Overall she felt good about the future though, there was a chance with Mr Wickers and she was starting to shed her reputation as a slag so her future did look quite bright.

 _Alfie._

Alfie walked into work that day like everything was normal. If people had no idea of their relationship he wouldn't make them suspicious so he kept to himself because he was famously bad at keeping secrets from people. In all of his emotional turmoil Alfie completely forgot to do his normal morning routine of putting his mail in Rosie's pigeon hole and presenting her with a cup of tea.

 _General._

This made Rosie quite worried about him as this was the first time since Alfie's first week at Abbey Grove that he hadn't pulled that trick. She looked over at Alfie, who clearly had something on his mind, and walked over to talk to him about it. "Hi" she said in her usual confident voice " How are things going because you look a bit down" she asked him politely but Alfie only grunted a bit and shrugged his shoulders in response. This disheartened Rosie who was starting to regret turning down Alfie at the dance as she thought that he was in this mood because of her. " Look Alfie why don't you spend the day alone while I take your class today ?". Rosie only offered this because she felt obligated to. Under usual circumstances she would have never agreed to take Form K since they were known as the local nightmare class to most of the teachers, even the teacher they all loved, Alfie, they were still terrible which could have also contributed to Alfie's sour mood.

 _Chantelle._

All of From K was sat in their seats quietly talking when the door opened. Chantelle immediately whipped her head round hoping to see Mr Wickers but she was instead greeted with the face of Miss Gulliver. All the boys around her lost their breath as, for whatever reason, they all found her very attractive. Chantelle ,on the other hand, absolutely hated Miss Gulliver because she felt that Miss Gulliver was the only boundary that was holding her apart from the man that Chantelle was clearly destined to be with. The mere presence of Miss Gulliver made Chantelle very angry because of their history but also of the way that Miss Gulliver played with Alfie's emotions for her own gain. Then Chantelle remembered last night and started to feel smug that she had caught Alfie and that Miss Gulliver was no longer going to be the centre of his life since even if Alfie went back to Miss Gulliver, he would always be reminded of his relationship with her.

 _Alfie._

Alfie retreated to the library in order to gather up his thought and have a serious, quiet think about the situation he had somehow got himself stuck into. He knew that there were some serious moral issues with what he had done with Chantelle but inside he felt that, despite the morals, that there was a connection, a spark. He had spent so much time pining after Rosie though so his judgement was a bit clouded by what he felt he had do versus what he wanted to do. There was also a section of himself that felt that the best option was to leave Abbey Grove and just get away from the problems and start again somewhere else but he couldn't bare to leave his only friends behind so he just sat down on his seat with his head in his hands. "I know I'm meant to inspire my students to go out there and get what they want but why did I have to be it" He silently whispered to himself.

 _Chantelle._

During the school day Chantelle had not once seen mr Wickers and she was visibly become more agitated as the day progressed. Her books were just filled with two words "Alfie Wickers" scribbled everywhere she could fit it. She just wanted to talk to Mr wickers and see if they had a future together since it was her birthday in a week and she knew that there would be no better present for her than him.

 _General._

Stephen eventually noticed the unusual behavior as while it was obvious to anyone that Chantelle had some sort of desire for Mr Wickers she had never seemed to be so obsessed with him to write his name everywhere which worried stephen who thought Chantelle was going through some sort of mental breakdown so during lunch.

 _Chantelle._

"Babes are you okay ?" Stephen asked Chantelle. During lunch stephen had somehow managed to corner Chantelle so she was basically screwed if he asked the right questions because she knew that she could not lie to his face like this. "Sure" she managed to get out in the most unconvincing voice ever heard. " It's clear that you're not since you don't seem to have room for anything in your head besides Sir" Stephen stated. Chantelle just looked weakly up at him ashamed of how obvious she must have made it. Stephen just smirked knowing that he was on the right lines. " So does it have anything to do with Miss Gulliver, come on spill the beans on what you are going to do to her". He only said this because, for a while, Chantelle had been telling Stephen about what she was going to do Miss Gulliver if she ever hurt Mr Wickers so Stephen assumed that Chantelle had finally reached boiling point but Chantelle quickly expelled that thought by telling him everything that had happened between her and Mr Wickers.

Stephen just gasped in response as that was not the answer he was expecting to hear. " Come on it was only a kiss, it's not that bad" Chantelle said trying to explain herself but Stephen just walked off leaving Chantelle alone in a corner wondering how something she had wanted for so long could cause her to be the one thing she hated to be.

Alone.


	9. Connection

"Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish."

― **Chuck Palahniuk**

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle sat at home that day just staring at the wall. She had been left alone by Stephen but they had been able to reconcile with each other so that was not a permanent problem and Stephen had even offered to help with Chantelle's birthday next week. Even better her birthday happened on a Friday this year so she could truly go all out with the party. She had already hired a local hall to host as well. The party was already looking good with most of the Year 11 students going and everyone was pitching in money to help finance what would be the party of their lives.

 _Alfie._

Alfie had spent the entire day sitting in a library unable to decide what he really wanted. While he appreciated that he had a real connection with Chantelle, it seemed ludicrous for him to actually chase after her considering all the trouble that they were already in for past incidents. He didn't have time to think about this any longer though because he was being told by the librarian that he had to leave because it was the end of the day. He got up and managed a small smile at the librarian and he slowly made his way to his dad's car. " You okay sport ?" Alfie's dad asked him concerned for his son who had walked up to and into the car looking like crap and Alfie replied "Fine" in an emotionless voice while staring out of the window. It was clear to anyone around him that something was wrong but his dad decided to leave the issue knowing how trying to help can actually worsen a situation.

 _Chantelle._

Her computer glared back at her, daring her to press send. Chantelle was at a crossroads as to whether to invite Mr Wickers or not. Yeah everyone loved him,especially Chantelle, but he was also a teacher so that could ruin the mood of the party. " Surely he can let go for one night" she thought to herself hesitantly moving the mouse towards the send button. She pressed down and the message box disappeared and a little message popped up telling her the email had been sent. An email that could decide the course of her entire life.

 _Alfie._

Alfie's head popped up when he noticed a quiet beep from his phone, signalling that an email had been received. He pulled up his phone and logged into his emails to see :

"Sir,

It's Chantelle and I was just wondering if you wanted to come to my birthday party next week. It's just a small gathering of friends and I would really appreciate it since this will probably be our last chance to party together. So please come.

All my love, Chantelle."

Upon seeing this email Alfie immediately pulled up his own message box and typed in "YES" as he would never miss a chance to part with his students and he could also use this as a way to gauge whether he should really go for Chantelle or if it was just another bad decision, of which he had a very long list.

 _Chantelle - at the birthday party._

People started arriving at the event hall at around 9 O'clock and the party was scheduled to last until 1 in the morning so they had a solid 4 hours of partying to look forward to. Chantelle spent most of the early party checking on the features of the party to make sure that everything was running perfectly so she didn't really relax a lot during the first 20 minutes but as soon as she had checked everything, she remembered that there was one thing missing in the sea of people. Mr Wickers.

 _Alfie._

Alfie sat in his car listening to the sounds of the party. On the way he had been so excited to actually be involved in a party but then all his insecurities came up when he remembered how his public school "friends" treated him during all his childhood parties. He knew that he had to make a decision though. Chantelle had invited him and it would be rude to no show the party especially since he said yes to the invite. He pushed himself out of the car and slowly walked to the party watching other people walk past him towards the party. He recognised a few of them but noticed that there were a lot of people that he didn't know which made him even more nervous and insecure about the party due to how nervous he became around new people which could be even worse due to the amount of alcohol most people would be consuming. He entered the party and immediately stood out in a group of teeneagers since he was 6' 1" which made him stand out a bit amongst the group of school children.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle was worried. Chantelle was very worried. Chantelle had spent a lot of time trying to find things for the party that would not only entertain her and the guests but that would also keep Mr Wickers engaged as well so it was very frustrating that he hadn't turned up. That was until she took a look at the entrance. While the hall was completely packed and it would usually be quite hard to find people in this situation, Mr Wickers' height came as a big advantage since he was taller than most of the attendees of the party which meant that he was easy to spot. As soon as Chantelle did spot him she dashed through the crowd trying to work a route through them and when she eventually got to Mr Wickers she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight glad that he had come.

 _Alfie._

When Alfie entered the party he was awkward and unsociable because no one wanted to be seen talking to the teacher whom most people suspected of being a secret chaperone. He became even more awkward when he felt something rush into him and hug tightly. That was until he looked down and noticed that it was Chantelle holding on to him. He noticed that she had done up her hair nicely and, surprisingly, not applied too much makeup. This gave her a natural glow and Alfie found himself being drawn even closer to her. He patted her on the back not wanting to seem too close in such a public setting. When she released the hug she looked up at him with a wide smile and he noticed that she was wearing one of the most beautiful dresses he had ever seen, "A beautiful dress for an even more beautiful woman" Alfie thought to himself before shaking his head and mentally chastising himself. "Inappropriate" he thought to himself.

 _Chantelle._

When he patted her on the back Chantelle released the hug and looked up at Mr Wickers smiling widely, overjoyed that he had come. She gave him a strange look when she noticed that he was just staring at her and then shaking his head but he quickly recovered and greeted her " Hey Chantelle" before she signalled for him to be quiet by placing her finger on his lips. She led him through the crowd, introducing him to a couple of close friends before ending up in one of the more private areas of the party.

"I see you came then Sir" she said to him trying to sound as casual as possible. " Yeah I guess I did" Alfie responded as he wasn't really very good with party talk. Chantelle just groaned at how slow the conversation was going and pulled Mr Wickers into one of the secret rooms she had found and latched herself onto him trying to kiss him and rip off his suit at the same time while not really succeeding in either aspect. She had been playing the waiting game for too long and she wanted to finally get some physical pay-off for all her hard work.

She became annoyed though when he disconnected from her and said " Not now" before trying to fix up his suit. Chantelle just let out a loud " For god's sake" before walking around the room trying to calm her thoughts.

 _Alfie._

"It just seems a little open to do this now" Alfie told her and this made her visibly more upset as she said " So you are embarrassed by being relegated to the local slut then ?" she asked him. Alfie knew that she had a low self-esteem but he had never suspected that it came to this level. "No it's just that we are both already in trouble for this and I don't want to give people any more ammo to fire at us" Alfie told her, trying to reassure her. "I even got you a little present" Alfie said before pulling a box out of his pocket. She took the box wide-eyed at him and opened before gasping and raising her hand to cover her mouth when she saw a necklace with a small diamond on it. She immediately pulled him into a deep hug and started to cry a little more than she already was.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle had expected a cheap bit of jewellery when she first saw the box but when the actual content was shown to her she was overcome with emotion. It wasn't the fanciest bit of jewellery she had ever received but it was clearly an expensive gift so the gesture was enough to send her emotions into overdrive as she pulled Mr Wickers into a deep hug.

 _General._

For the rest of the party Chantelle and Alfie stuck together since Alfie didn't know most of the party so Chantelle took pity on him and stuck with him because of it. Near the end of the party Alfie decided to do the one thing he had never dreamed of doing and took hold of a microphone and started to speak in a clear voice.

" Now I might be the last person any of you, who actually know me, expected to see but for those who do not know I am Mr Wickers and I teach Chantelle's class. Due to this unique position I have had the privilege of watching my class grow and for that I am very grateful. I have seen Chantelle grown from an immature child to the responsible adult you all see before you today. So I dedicate this toast to one of my favourite students, Chantelle. Well done for getting this far."

Alfie raised his glass in honour of Chantelle along with the rest of the party. Chantelle was getting choked up so she ran up to Alfie and gave him a hug to hide her face from the party and so that she could have at least one public display of intimacy with him which wouldn't seem unusual to people around them. Alfie just downed his glass and returned the hug respectfully.

 _Chantelle - after the party._

After the party had finished and people were shuffling out of the hall Alfie and Chantelle were stood together wondering what to do with themselves. " Could I have a lift Sir ?" Chantelle asked Mr Wickers since she had no way of getting home now since the buses had stopped running and her mother was on a weekend holiday with one of her boy toys. Mr Wickers replied "Okay" not seeing anything wrong with a lift and he drove her home in complete silence since they both knew that this was goodbye.

When they arrived at her house they just sat in the car silently not ready to say bye to each other . " Want some coffee ?" Chantelle asked him knowing that he wouldn't catch on to the hidden meaning. "Fine, I could probably deal with a wakeup hit anyway" Alfie responded exiting the car and jogging around to her side to open her door for her. They entered the house and Chantelle dragged him into her room and started kissing him violently before undoing the buckle on his belt. "I thought we were here for coffee" Alfie said with a confused look on his face not expecting this to happen. " We are Sir" Chantelle responded while fiddling with her own clothes. " It's my own special brand" She whispered seductively before throwing him onto the bed for a night neither would forget.


	10. Eventuality

"The forces of desire that sway man's mind are the forces that will eventually destroy him, while a singular love that roots his heart makes him invincible"

― **Prabhukrishna M**

 _Alfie._

Alfie awoke to the bright streams of light that were burning into his eyes and groaned as he slowly woke up. He then discovered that he was naked and couldn't help but wonder why since he always had a pair of pajamas ready to go so it baffled him as to why he decided to go bareback. Speaking of going bareback, Alfie realised that he had something wrapped around his shaft and poked his hand down there to find a used condom. " Must have got lucky" Alfie thought to himself, smirking at the thought. He properly opened his eyes to find that he had no idea at all where he was. There was pink wallpaper all around him and, strangely, a picture of himself on the bedside table. "Probably an old girlfriend who couldn't get enough of the Alf" he thought to himself sitting up to find that his clothes were nowhere in sight. He heard a faint vibrating noise coming from outside the room then the sound of spitting. " Must be brushing her teeth" Alfie realised while laying back down on his side so that he could pretend to be asleep and surprise his mystery lover.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle woke up that morning and looked to the side to see the image she thought could only happen in her dreams. She see the man of her dreams, Mr Wickers, lying on his side facing towards her with his eyes closed tightly and lightly snoring. She had an idea to wake him up for some morning fun but she knew that they would have plenty of time for that later so she headed off to the bathroom to do her morning ritual of giving herself a quick wash and brushing her teeth. When she got up to head to the bathroom, she noticed the pile of clothes that they had left to the side of her bed. She thought that it would be funny to take his clothes as a joke and see how he reacted so she took them into the bathroom with her. While she was preparing herself for the day she had a bit of time to wonder about past events and reflect on what she had done with her she was brushing her teeth she heard a slight groan which indicated that her love had just woken up. She gave him a minute to adjust and then concluded her brushing by ejecting the toothpaste from her mouth. She quickly dabbed at her mouth with a wipe to get rid of any excess paste and headed inside her room to see how her future hubby was doing.

When Chantelle walked into the room she was greeted by the sight of Mr Wickers' bare back " So he shaves then, I should take note" she thought to herself before running back into the bathroom to deal with that problem.

 _Alfie._

Alfie could hear whoever he had spent the night with walk in and just as he was about to jump around and scare her he heard her run out of the room suddenly so he just got back in position ready to do it again because he was going to get her felt someone crawl into the bed 5 minutes later and decided that it was now or never so he shut his eyes, whipped his body round and growled loudly. He heard a quick scream and opened his eyes to see the naked body of Chantelle next to him. This caused all the memories of last night to suddenly come flying back into his head and he let out a quick "Ah" and jumped back a bit at the realisation that he had slept with Chantelle, one of his pupils.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle approached Mr Wickers' body ready to surprise him with her bare pubic region by crawling on to the bed in a seductive manner before Mr Wickers whipped around and scared her momentarily. Once the initial scare wore off she started laughing until Mr Wickers suddenly said "Ah" and she felt him move away from her. This hurt her a little because this made him seem quite unappreciative of everything Chantelle had done for him. Then she realised that he was probably quite overwhelmed by the knowledge that he had slept with her so she decided to leave the room for a couple of minutes to give him time to adjust and to also get rid of the hurt feeling that she got from his reaction, after all she was still an emotionally fragile teenager at her core.

 _Alfie._

It felt as though the walls were closing in on him and his clock was finally striking midnight. The incident that occurred months ago was almost all but forgotten but this made it come right back along with the strict warning that Fraser had given him. This time they didn't have any respite, they had gone for full on sexual intercourse and that realisation burned straight into Alfie. He knew that if word of this got out that it would mean that his p45 was inevitable but at minimum he would be mostly safe from the law since she turned 16 the day before they got it on but it would still result in him losing the only stable job his qualifications could actually get him. He could retrain but it would be ridiculously hard to find employment in any sector if word got out that he had slept with a barely legal pupil of his.

 _General._

Alfie walked out of the room and asked Chantelle for his clothes back. She could see that he was clearly conflicted form the look on his face and the quickly thickening tool downstairs reminded her that she wasn't dressed either. She went and retrieved the clothes and watched him get dressed so quickly that most of his clothes were not on the right way but he didn't care since he had to get out of the house and clear his head. He left the house and Chantelle ran to the door only half dressed and shouted " Sir" before lowering herself onto her knees and crying softly while she watched the best thing that had ever happened to her walk away.

Just down the road there was the sound of a click. Then a shutter. Then silence.


	11. Reflection

"Reflect upon your present blessings - of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

― **Charles Dickens**

 _Alfie._

Alfie arrived home that afternoon absolutely exhausted. He had spent the entire day avoiding Chantelle as he had been doing ever since the weekend so that he didn't have to discuss their intimacy. He wasn't doing it to hurt her but instead he was doing it because he had no idea what he wanted anymore. Previously he had convinced himself that they were only friends but recently things had started to go on a downward spiral. Alfie knew that he wanted Chantelle, that much was obvious, but he didn't know how to express that without sounding like a creepy, pervert teacher. So he just didn't. Chantelle had tried plenty of times to get him to talk to her but she hadn't had any success on that front. So she had also given up.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle was miserable. Ever since her magical night a few days ago, Mr Wickers had been avoiding her, ignoring her, trying his hardest to stay away from her. Maybe she had scared him off with how forward she was, after all he was a very apprehensive person around women in general, she had noticed, so it made sense that he would want to think about their relationship especially since she was his pupil and she understood that their student-teacher relationship was going to cause a moral dilemma. That did not meant that his denial hurt any less.

 _General._

Another school day started. Another classroom of awkward silence. Everyone felt the tension, but only two people knew why. Everyone looked at each other, willing others to speak but no one could find anything to say. Joe opened his mouth to speak and break the silence but as soon as the first syllable exited his mouth the whole class started staring at him so he stopped. The bell rang, signalling a break to the silence at which point everyone but Chantelle and Alfie stood up and left the room. Alfie flashed a confused glance at Chantelle until he looked at his timetable remembering that this was their one on one tuition session. Alfie tilted his head around trying to get a grip of himself while Chantelle just sat staring at him and smiling trying to comfort him and hide her own hurt feelings. " So Chantelle bring your seat over then" Alfie told her like he usually did so that they shared a desk and it was easier to work.

Chantelle just walked over to him without a chair and asked " Why would I do that when I could just sit here ?" before sitting down on his lap, crossing her legs and flicking her hair out of her face before wrapping her arms around his neck. " Alfie just stuttered out " Ch-Chant-elle I don't think that this is appropriate" while he tried his best to not start pinching a tent at the feeling of a beautiful young women sitting on his lap. " I know" Chantelle said " Makes it hot doesn't it" she whispered before dismounting him, walking over to the door, covering up the slim see-through bits with masking tape, walking over to the windows, lowering the blinds all while Alfie was sitting at his desk in shock, unable to believe what was happening " At school as well" Alfie thought to himself unable to deny how tempting this was to him as his physical indicator started to rise even higher. Chantelle just looked at him with her most seductive face and let her hair down before slowly stripping her blazer off and slightly hiking up her skirt so that he could see the outline of her panties. "How about now ?" she whispered before walking over to him and pulling him by his tie to her desk and then going to the door, grabbing his master key, and locking it so that they were not disturbed.

Chantelle started to unbuckle his belt before a knock at the door froze the both of them. " Alfie, Alfie" they heard Miss Gulliver say "Shit" they both said in unison before quickly trying to tidy each other up with Alfie focused on hiding his still stiff boom stick while Chantelle worked on making herself look how she normally did by straightening her clothes and putting her blazer back on. They heard the fumbling of a key and then saw the door swing open and saw Rosie walk in and see both of them sitting on Chantelle's desk with her hair in a mess and him sitting awkwardly to the side. Luckily for them, Rosie could be very gullible with this type of thing but she was still curious so she had to ask " What on Earth is happening here ? Why is it so dark?". They both gulped as neither could think of an explanation until Alfie managed to, in a very high-pitched tone, force out "We were just studying the um-dark ages, yeah the dark ages and how it felt to be a peasant at that time" Alfie could barely stop himself from smiling at how good his excuse had turned out. Rosie accepted this knowing how strange Alfie's teaching methods were but it wasn't her place to judge so she left the room.

Alfie and Chantelle both let out a large sigh of relief at managing to get away with that. "Never again" they both said to each other knowing that if Rosie had come in 5 minutes later she would have seen a very different scene. "Not never again in general" Alfie said trying to clarify what he meant " Just not when others are around, agreed ?" "Agreed" Chantelle said before pulling him close by his tie and laying a big one on his lips. "There is so much more where that came from" Chantelle said while staring directly into his eyes.

"So much more".


	12. Secrets are Made to be Spread

"If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath."

― **Amit Ray**

GCSEs. A time that can break down even the most hardened of people. Under normal circumstances they are hard and stressful enough but when there is the added load of hiding an illicit relationship with your teacher it can start to take a bit of a load on people. Unfortunately for a schoolgirl named Chantelle, that was her exact situation.

 _Chantelle._

Chantelle had been in a relationship with Alfie Wickers for 3 and a bit months now and it had been the happiest time of her life. Chantelle had never expected to be a fan of so called 'classical romance' but she was truly a fan for life now. Her and Alfie had been to places she didn't even know existed, even been to London. Chantelle knew that these trips were few and far between because a teacher's salary isn't particularly good and she had accepted that they couldn't go for dates in Tring because people knew who they were and there was too much on the line to mess it up now, his career, her future especially when all they had to do was wait a few more months and then they would be able to go public as the restrictions of school lifted themselves. So she was happy to wait and it also added that extra sense of excitement when Alfie crawled in through her window at night when her mum was didn't have sex though. They were saving themselves for after their first date but they did cuddle so it was good enough for Chantelle to just be feeling his touch especially when she knew that he was risking so much for her. It was so romantic.

 _Alfie._

Alfie had been in a relationship with Chantelle Parsons for 3 and a bit months now and it had been the most thrilling time of his life. He had finally met someone that he not only could actually start a relationship with, but was also still in a relationship with. It was truly a unique time in his life. So he treasured every moment. Sure most of the time they spent together was in a classroom full of people that they were trying to hide their feelings from but Alfie was sure that no one knew about them. After all, how could they ? Alfie and Chantelle were both very careful in their flirting since Chantelle still flirted with him like usual and they made Alfie more breathless now than they ever had as he had gained a new understanding of the thought that goes into her one-liners and the knowledge that she did it all for him was absolutely brilliant. He couldn't really be much happier.

 _General._

The class had noticed a shift between Chantelle and Alfie but they mostly chose to ignore it as Chantelle was always flirting with him anyway and while he didn't seem as awkward as usual they all just assumed he had become a bit braver. They didn't have time to think about that anyway since they all had exams to prep for so they ignored everything else, except for one student who already had his future in and Stephen were walking on the field when Stephen suddenly stopped. " Chantelle, babes, what is it between you and Wickers ?" Stephen asked trying to drag the truth out of his best friend. "Nothing is going on just leave it" Chantelle replied not wanting to look Stephen in the eyes, if she did she knew that she would crack. "Are you sure 'cause I think you two have been getting a little friendlier recently" "Yes" Chantelle quickly shot back starting to crack already. "Say it to my face then" Stephen told her stopping in front of her to block her path. " Fine we-" Chantelle cut herself off by biting her tongue, trying her hardest not to say anything. " You took it to the next level didn't you" Stephen told her as she looked up at him with her eyes wide open in shock that he had figured it out. Stephen started to turn and walk off but Chantelle grabbed his arm in desperation trying to stop him so she could explain her actions. "It just happened, please don't tell anyone" Chantelle begged not wanting her perfect relationship to be broken up by her best friend of all people. "Chantelle, is he taking advantage of you ?" Stephen asked trying to recover himself so that they could talk this out like adults. " No it was me that jumped on him, please just don't tell anyone, this is the happiest I've ever been so don't ruin this for me" Chantelle said trying to make him see things her way. "Fine I'll keep it a secret" Stephen resigned while Chantelle ran up to him and gave him a big hug. "Thank you so much" She said to him while they embraced.

 _Alfie._

Alfie saw the exchange between Chantelle and Stephen and he could only wonder what they were arguing about, obviously he couldn't hear them, and just when it looked like things were going to get ugly they suddenly hugged. "Teenagers" Alfie said while smirking, laughing to himself about how they could be fighting one moment then embracing each other the next. Alfie kept staring out of the window at Chantelle when he heard a faint knock at the door and turned around to see Rosie opening the door and walking into the room.

 _General._

"Hi Alfie I was just coming to ask if you are okay, are you okay ?" Rosie said. "It's just that you haven't flirted with me once since Christmas and we've barely talked so I was wondering if maybe I've sent you into depressive state." She asked with a worried look. Alfie just stared at her with a slightly confused look on his face. "So you really think that I'm like this because of you, haa, no because I've found someone who really loves me." Then Alfie's faced dropped as he realised that he may have said too much. "Oh that's nice" Rosie said amazed that he had found someone so quickly, "Well maybe I could meet her ?" Rosie asked. Alfie was just about to tell her that his girlfriend was ill (awful excuse) until Fraser walked in and said " Stephen's looking for you, meet outside in now ?" "Sorry Rosie but I've got to go". Alfie said before sprinting off to find Stephen, thankful for the escape but also dreading what Chantelle may have told Stephen.

"Hi Stephen what do you want ?" Alfie asked nervously as he watched Stephen leaning against the wall with a distant look on his face. "Stephen, you wanted to talk ?" Alfie asked, clicking his fingers trying to get Stephen's attention. " Is it just sex ?" Stephen asked as if it he was asking Alfie if he wanted tea.. Alfie just took a couple of steps back and said "What ?" while trying to calm his reddening face. "Is it just sex " Stephen repeated himself, being more insistent this time and staring right through Alfie's eyes, "I have no idea what you are talking about" Alfie said turning around as he prepared to walk off but then Stephen said the one thing he didn't want to hear, "Chantelle". Alfie said "No" without even turning around and just walked off angry and upset at everyone and everything around him. It was almost as if he was back at school again.

 _Chantelle._

"Why did you do that ?" Chantelle asked Stephen before running after Mr Wickers and trying to calm him down with a deep hug. She had been hiding behind a wall the whole time and had heard the entire conversation. It hurt her a little when Alfie denied their relationship to the one other person she really trusted but was overjoyed when Alfie said that their relationship was more than sex. Sure he had said it to her before and their lack of physical intimacy proved it but it still felt nice to hear it when he didn't know that she was around. She hugged Alfie deeply whispering "Calm" repeatedly into his ears in an attempt to calm him down. She knew that this could cause her to lose him forever ,especially if he figured it that she was in on it, but she hoped that he would understand that this was Stephen's doing, not hers.

 _General._

After a week had passed everyone had moved on from past hostility. Stephen and Alfie had a long talk about his relationship with Chantelle and Chantelle herself had spent her time thinking about their relationship. She knew that he was the one and she would fight to be with him forever.

Was she scared ? Yes.

Was she nervous ? Yes.

Was she happy ? Definitely. Yes.


	13. In The End

**A/N: This is the final chapter of "An Awkward Education". I would like to thank everyone for the support on the series and it is good to know that there are still Bad Education fans out there. I will be taking the next week off in order to draft new stories and possibly a sequel to this story. It has been a pleasure to write. Thank You.**

 _"You get use to someone—start to like them, even—and they leave. In the end, everyone leaves."_

― _**Rachel Ward**_

A beep emanated from the computer that lit up the dark room. The screen flashed to life as an email notification popped up informing the sleeping person on top of the keyboard that something had come for them. A second beep came, as if the computer really wanted the recipient to wake up. This time they started to stir, squinting their eyes as their pupils were assaulted with bright, white light. " What the" The recently awoken person said, not ready to wake up yet. They opened the email to find an attachment and a single line of text that baffled the owner of the computer.

"You're Welcome."

 _Alfie Wickers._

Alfie Wickers was happy now. GCSEs were over. It was almost time for him and Chantelle to come out about their relationship. Just a bit of time to wait until the release of the results. Then they could be as happy in public as they were in private. It overjoyed Alfie as he realised that this would give him a chance to create a grand gesture for Chantelle, much like he used to be constantly doing for Rosie. He was sat in an empty classroom now. All the pupils had left for a blow out party after their final exam and, as a teacher, it would have been inappropriate for him to go. He was happy for them though, they had worked hard in recent times and they all deserved to have fun. He just hoped they were all safe. These massive parties could sometimes get out of hand.

 _Chantelle Parsons._

Chantelle Parsons was at peace. She was in a perfect, yet private, relationship with her now former teacher Alfie Wickers. She had the greatest friend in the form of Stephen Carmichael and she knew that it would be hard for her life to get any better. Her phone buzzed and a text from Alfie showed up.

Have fun tonight. Alfie. xxx.

Chantelle started to smile widely and laugh a bit at the thought of Alfie sitting at the desk waiting for her reply. So she didn't reply immediately and she would reply when she was on the way to the party in about an hour, just to keep him waiting and wanting. Stephen walked into her room and noticed her happy mood. "That Mr Perfect ?" Stephen asked, rolling their eyes at their relationship, he never could understand what had brought them together but it was clear that Alfie was making Chantelle happy so Stephen chose to leave it. Chantelle just nodded in reply and stared at her phone, looking at the message as she willed herself to wait while all her instincts begged her to reply. Then her phone buzzed once again and a different message showed up.

"I Know"

"Know what ?" Chantelle replied to the mystery texter, hoping to everything that she found holy that they didn't know what she was thinking. Her phone buzzed but this time a message did not show up but instead a link to an image showed up. She went onto the image and found a picture of her house. It seemed normal at first but then she looked a little closer and realised that it was the moment that Alfie had left her house in a mess after they had consummated their relationship. "Oh holy fuck" Chantelle said throwing her phone across the room, refusing to accept what she had just seen.

A loud noise obviously came from the phone's impact with the wall and Stephen came running in to find Chantelle lying on the floor on the verge of bursting into tears. "Hon what is it ?" Stephen asked, worried for the well being of his best friend. Chantelle could only point at her cracked phone. Stephen walked over to the phone and picked it up. Through the cracks he could make out a picture of her street. Like Chantelle he did not notice the important part until he had looked a little closer. Realisation dawned on him as he turned to Chantelle, scared for her, whoever was ending this clearly had knowledge of technology. They knew who Chantelle was and how to contact her.

His phone started to ring suddenly and an unknown number showed up on the screen. He pressed answer but he did not speak. He turned the speaker phone function on and sat next to Chantelle who was still silently sobbing. "10 minutes, Tring Kebab Shop, no money, just you and maybe the friend. Remember. I can see you". A knock on the door startled both of them. Chantelle plucked up the courage to open the door and found that there was no sign of anyone anywhere. Only a printed version of the image. Chantelle had been scribbled out of the picture and Alfie had been circled in red pen. Chantelle gulped as she realised what she was up against. She was going against another Alfie lover.

 _General._

The party passed without incident and the situation with the mystery stalker was not mentioned again. Chantelle and Stephen both agreed to keep the situation a secret from Alfie. He wasn't dealing with the loss of his class very well, he had bonded so much with all of them that it was becoming hard for him to let go. He knew he would still have Chantelle which meant he would still have Stephen as well but he didn't want to lose them. He wanted to be with them, in a friendly manner, for their entire education. He wanted to guide them through life. He wanted to be a part of their group. But he couldn't. So he stressed out. Lashed out at those he loved, thankfully Chantelle was not with him at the time. She was in bed thinking about the sweet man she knew so well. She couldn't think about him without thinking about the stalker that was harassing her and, she feared, would soon be making a move to try and steal Alfie away from her.

No one appeared at the kebab shop. They only received another text to Stephen's phone, claiming that the stalker had become too nervous to speak with them. So they left, hand in hand out of fear, not noticing the sound of a shutter behind them.

 _Alfie Wickers._

Alfie was always regretful about his actions during these times of stress. He could go from joyful to mournful in an instant. It was like he had never grown out of puberty and was still being plagued with emotional distress. It did help make him closer to Chantelle though, so at least there was some sort of benefit to his emotional strife and irrational behaviour. He raised his head when Rosie walked into his room unannounced and asked Alfie to meet her by the shed, teacher's smoking area, in 5 minutes. Alfie agreed and started stretching so that he didn't pull something on the way over.

Alfie arrived at the shed and asked Rosie what was happening. Rosie responded " Isn't it obvious Alfie ? We've been playing the long game with this but I think that it is time that we joined together and started our love that will last forever". "Are you done yet ?" Alfie responded, pretending to yawn in order to emphasis his lack of care at that moment. " Rosie I've found someone I love, someone I care for, and they're not you" Alfie told her trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in. "Ooh Chantelle, yes because she's world famous for being able to hold a stable, long term relationship" Rosie responded in a mocking tone while showing him the picture of him leaving Chantelle's house. "H-How ?" Alfie choked upon seeing the picture as he felt happiness start to slip from his body. "Pickwell" Rosie said in response, "It was easy enough, she heavily dislikes you and I want you, our plan suited both of our aims. Don't you see Alfie, me and you are destined to go back and forth forever" Rosie was slowly moving towards Alfie as she explained her plan and Alfie was starting to feel the nerves really piling up on him. "She doesn't love you like I do anyway. You're just a stepping stone to her" Rosie said while pulling out the picture of Chantelle and Stephen holding hands. It was obvious that they were just friends but, with his emotions flying everywhere, Alfie assumed the worse.

So he froze and stared at the ground, feeling like shit.

 _General._

Sensing his moment of weakness Rosie lunged at him and planted a deep kiss onto his lips. At this point, Pickwell ushered Chantelle and Stephen into the shed and they saw the sight of Rosie and Alfie sharing passionate kiss, at least from Rosie. They had been very confused when Pickwell found them on the street and insisted that they come to the shed but now it all made sense.

 _Chantelle Parsons._

Alfie didn't love her. He still loved Rosie. She screamed and cried and ran. She ran anywhere, anywhere but the one place she wanted to be.

 _Alfie Wickers._

Alfie heard a scream and finally realised what was happening. He was in the middle of a kiss with Rosie. He looked to the side and noticed Chantelle running. The dots connected in his head and he released the kiss with Rosie, running as fast as he could after Chantelle. "Pig" he heard Stephen say beside him but he couldn't deal with that. He had to find Chantelle. He looked frantically around but the horrible truth slowly emerged. She was gone. Alfie collapsed to his knees and wept loudly.

 _Chantelle Parsons._

Chantelle was hiding around the corner listening to Alfie sob. She wanted nothing more than to go to his side and comfort him and start their relationship all over again. That couldn't happen though. It was just too much.

 _General._

Neither of them moved. Time had slowed down as Alfie stared at the floor and Chantelle was staring at him, hoping he would notice her and come. But he didn't.

She had to leave. He had to leave. Like everyone else in his life, she was leaving. Like everyone else in her life, he was leaving. Everyone was leaving.

They were alone together.


End file.
